During the 11-on-11 portion of Tuesday’s practice, Raiders quarterback EJ Manuel threw a pass that was tipped and deflected into the hands of defensive back Marcus Gilchrist.

As Gilchrist returned the ball, defensive players from both the field and sideline sprinted after him, surrounding him near the end zone and whooping in celebration.

Last year’s Oakland defense didn’t have many such moments during the season, going the first 10 games without an interception and finishing with a league-low five. The Raiders’ 14 takeaways tied for second fewest in the NFL and contributed to a minus-14 turnover margin (tied for 29th).

Improving those numbers, unsurprisingly, is a priority for the new defensive staff. And it’s one reason coordinator Paul Guenther deemed the reaction to a meaningless spring interception a positive sign.

“Obviously, it’s a big part of what we talk about in our meeting rooms: turning the ball over, getting it back to our offense,” Guenther said. “You see the guys are getting excited about it. It’s good to see they’re all running down there, chasing the guy after he intercepts the ball.”

Forcing turnovers was a hallmark of Guenther’s defenses in Cincinnati. The Bengals ranked in the top five in interceptions from 2014 through ’16 (with 58 total) as well as in opponents’ passer rating. The Raiders also ranked third worst in the latter category (101.8) last season.

Oakland’s offseason changes included a secondary overhaul. At cornerback, the Raiders signed free agents Leon Hall, Rashaan Melvin, Daryl Worley and Shareece Wright, and drafted Nick Nelson out of Wisconsin in the fourth round. Melvin is projected to start opposite last year’s first-round pick, Gareon Conley.

The Raiders also acquired Gilchrist, who is expected to compete for a starting safety spot and also can play nickel cornerback. Safeties Karl Joseph and Reggie Nelson, whom the Raiders re-signed in free agency, return from last season.

Any improvement so far, of course, is preliminary. Guenther prefaced an answer to a question about the secondary Tuesday by saying the defense had “dropped about five picks” in practice the previous day. But he said even that has an encouraging side.

“We’ve gotten our hands on a lot of balls,” Guenther said. “We just have to catch (more of) them.”

Melvin, whose three career interceptions all came last season for Indianapolis, said the theme has reached the Raiders’ players. In his first season as a starter, Melvin also recorded 13 pass break-ups in 10 games for the Colts before sustaining a hand injury.

“We maybe have six or seven interceptions right now,” in practice, Melvin said. “That’s progress. We want to carry that on to the season. Anytime you can catch the football in the offseason or get the ball back to our offense, we all know how dynamic our offense has the ability to be. So just focus on catching the ball.”

The resulting celebrations, Melvin said, are another component the defense hopes to maintain.

“We want to make it a habit,” Melvin said. “We want to celebrate with our teammates so we can enforce that this is what we want to be about for the whole 2018 season. With those guys out there making plays, you see all 11 guys flying to the end zone, that’s a great habit to have.”

Though Melvin has said he believes he can be a No. 1 cornerback for the Raiders, the team’s plans hinge largely on the health of Conley, who played in only two games as a rookie because of a shin injury. Conley was eased into the offseason program but has been a fuller participant in recent weeks.

“He’s doing good,” Guenther said. “Most importantly, he’s out there. He’s really understanding the little details of everything: the press techniques that we’re teaching, some of the different coverages. We have a lot of different coverages in now. He’s done a really good job for us.”

Conley, the No. 24 overall pick from Ohio State, impressed the Raiders in offseason workouts last year and broke up a pass in his debut against the Jets. But he played just 93 defensive snaps and did not appear after Week 3, making him nearly as much of an unknown to returning teammates as to the new coaching staff.

“I’m happy to see Conley out there running around,” Nelson said Tuesday. “I think there’s a high standard out there for him, and he’s holding that up. I think Conley is doing a great job right now doing what the coaches ask him to do.”